Yes, for sure a picture is worth 1,00 words. It's too bad I'm having so many computer and photo problems or I could scan things in for you.
When/if you ever try doing a real wood, planked deck, take a close look at the way the joints are staggered on the Bismark deck. You want the joints to be the maximum distance possible between the next joint, and as I said, 40 feet is the usually longest plank.
I think on the Bismark, it might not have alternated the joint stagger (1-3-5-2-4), but might have had them as 1-2-3-4-5. (My computer's also very slow to go back a page and open up a picture), but the reason would be that Bismark doesn't rely on the deck for strength the same way as a wooden warship would.